His Holiness, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa,Performing the Black Crown Ceremony

In this ceremony His Holiness puts on the
Black Crown
and enters into a meditative state in which his mind is merged with the
mind of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. It is said that
attending
the ceremony brings great benefit, and even seeing an image of it can
make
a real connection between our minds and the benevolent mind of the
Karmapa.

"The Black Crown is an attribute of the
Karmapas which
signifies the power to help all beings. The female Buddhas bestowed
this
energy field on Karmapa at his enlightenment several thousand years
ago.
It is constantly above his head. The replica shown at ceremonies has
the
power to open the subconscious of those present and permits the Karmapa
to exchange his limitless space-awareness for beings' inhibitions and
pain.
It is a means for gaining liberation through seeing, which only a
Karmapa
can use."

Let me briefly recount the story of the Black
Crown. When the Emperor Yung Lo met the 5th Karmapa Dezhin Shegpa
numerous miracles and signs appeared in the sky for the 18 days that
Karmapa gave public teachings. Famous Chinese painters and
calligraphers of the period copied these signs daily and wrote
descriptions of them in the four main languages of the Chinese Empire
Mongolian, Mandarin, Tibetan and Turkic. They form the basis of our
understanding of how the Emperor came to give the Black Crown to the
Karmapa.

After several days of
teachings, the Emperor said to Karmapa, Whenever you perform a
ceremony of blessing, you always appear to me in a special way. Your
body is in the form of Vajradhara and you are wearing a kind of black
turban or crown on your head.

Karmapa responded that it
could be that when the body of a great bodhisattva is teaching in
human, or nirmanakaya form, this body can also be simultaneously
manifested in sambhogakaya, or ethereal form. To further answer the
emperor's question, Karmapa explained that many eons in the past, in a
previous life as a cave-meditator, Karmapa attained the eighth
bodhisattva bhumi. Then, a hundred thousand wisdom dakinis cut their
black hair and offered it to Karmapa as an offering. They manifested
their hair as a crown that they placed on his head and enthroned
Karmapa as a Buddha for their sambhogakaya land. The 5th Karmapa said
that the 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khenpa was an emanation of that
sambhogakaya Buddha for our world.

The emperor marveled at
this story, and in his devotion offered to have a replica of this crown
made for Karmapa: If I make a similar crown and offer it to you, can
you give the blessing of the sambhogakaya Buddha to sentient beings?

Karmapa responded, Yes,
the bodhisattva s blessing depends on his having attained the wish
paramita--that whatever he wishes for sentient beings will come
true--so this is possible.

The emperor was very
pleased. He left Karmapa, and ordered the most skilled craftsmen to
make a crown studded with precious stones and crowned by a rare ruby
the size of a human fingertip. The 5th Karmapa accepted this gift and
began the tradition of the Black Crown Ceremony. Since then, when any
Karmapa performs this ceremony, he meditates in the form of a
sambhogakaya Buddha and thus gives a unique empowerment of samadhi and
wisdom to those in attendance. Karmapas from the 5th through the 16th
wore this crown and gave this blessing through the ceremony.